This second quarter update deals mostly with credit cards and credit scores, but we touch on managing mortgages and financial infidelity.

Credit Cards/Score

• Ever wonder what to do with that credit card you never use? There is not necessarily one answer for all situations.
• Do you know exactly what happens when if you make a late credit card payment?
• How about what happens when you don’t pay off your credit card balance in full?
• This one might make you think twice about opening a joint credit card with a parent (or an adult child….depending on your perspective.)
• Here are some tips to avoiding credit card fees.

Credit Cards/security

• This article tells you what you need to know about protecting yourself against credit card scams.
• And here is an article on the most recent data breach….(Delta and Sears).
• People feel their credit cards are less secure because of all the attention paid these data breaches. In fact, chips make the cards less likely to be duplicated, and have driven the hackers to data center breaches instead.  

This year, losses from counterfeit payment card losses are expected to hit $1.8 billion—down 28% from where they were three years ago. On the other hand, card-no-present (CNP) fraud is  up 106% in that same time.

• Debit and credit cards can still be cloned.  Understand the difference between breaching, skimming and "shimming."
• Do your kids have any credit cards you don’t know about?  Learn how to protect your family.
• Major credit card issuers are doing away with signatures.

Security (General)

• The House is going to consider a bill passed by the Senate that will override States’ power to determine credit freeze restrictions (as is currently the case), weakening the restrictions and putting consumers at more risk.

Mortgages

• Mortgage refinancing fell to the lowest levels in a decade.  Are rising interest rates the reason?
• Here are three reasons to pay off your mortgage early.

Financial Infidelity

• What constitutes financial infidelity? Here is a brief Q&A with industry experts on one example.

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